


The Verd's Guide to Curating Holofootage

by antigrav_vector



Series: The 212th Attack Battalion's Guide to Saving the Galaxy by Accident [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Fluff, GFY, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mandalorian Culture, Mando'a, POV Isabet Reau, don't worry there's a glossary, elements of kidfic, outsider pov, tech talk that isn't jargon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27439498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: After their rescue on Concordia, it took them a while to recover. Most of them had already accepted offers of adoption from theverd'e be'Mand'alor. Their newbuir'ehelped a lot with getting them back on their feet, but until Falin, Mij, and Tani decided what they wanted to do, Isabet wasn't about to leave them alone longer than she had to. If they didn't accept theverd'ewho'd offered to sponsor them... these few days in the palace's improvised medbay might be all they had left, together.They needed a distraction, and of course it would be theMand'alor's karking adoptedjetiiand hisvod'ewho offered them a good one. The Headhunters, the Grunts, and Vertigo Company had started a trend of collecting and trading holofootage of the Mereels for fun and profit. And thosedi'kut'la ori'ramikad'ehad made an utter hash of it.Luckily, they had Isabet and hervod'eto fix it for them.
Relationships: Darist H'yza & Falin Mattran, Konall (OC) & Mij Gilamar, Nal'ya (OC) & Tani Vintise, Vhonte Tervho & Cort Davin
Series: The 212th Attack Battalion's Guide to Saving the Galaxy by Accident [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830226
Comments: 29
Kudos: 337





	The Verd's Guide to Curating Holofootage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quarra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quarra/gifts).



> Happy (early) Birthday, Quarra. Here's the first half of the words I have planned for you.
> 
> Takes place concurrently with chapters 25-29 of the [Guide to Staging Rescues](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25262914).

Isabet scowled down at her datapad.

It continued to show the same bit of footage, defying her.

Against the background of the training yard, most of the _ad'e be'Mand'alor_ gathered in the center of the large space, standing in a rough circle as a growing crowd of spectators watched. Ben, the _jet'ika_ who'd gotten them out of their holding cell and sent them floating gently up to the surface, stood out among his _vod'e_ in his brightly painted green armour and contrasting surcoat. He looked dashing. It didn't matter that he carried a _jetii'kad_ , or that his armour wasn't the simple-but-effective traditional _beskar_ plate. One of the other _jetiise_ stood nearby, wearing a metallic mask and eye protection. She wasn't sure what species they were, but the Mereels obviously liked them. It showed in the way the seven of them all but came to attention in a gesture of respect when the older _jetii_ approached.

Isabet watched, again, as -- entirely without the use of their jetpacks -- the _ad'e be'Mand'alor_ got flung skywards by Ben. The _jet'ika_ gestured and it looked like his _vod'e_ got plucked off the ground one by one, lifted by some invisible hand that sent them into graceful arcs which let them perform a series of acrobatic flips and tumbles. 

With a shiver, Isabet remembered the way that invisible touch had felt as she'd gotten lifted to safety during their rescue. _Ka'ra_ , that had been so karking weird. Like getting wrapped up in a transparisteel blanket. She'd still been able to move, but Ben's hold had been unbreakable. Just like Crys had promised, Ben would never have let her fall, not even if she'd gotten afraid and started fighting him without meaning to.

Vhonte peered over her shoulder and made an appreciative sound. Isabet had to admit that the HUD footage made for great entertainment.

After a moment Vhonte asked, "What's wrong, _vod_?"

On the screen, the master _jetii_ repeated what Ben had done, sending Ben's five _vod'e_ flying skyward a second time, their gold and black armour catching and reflecting the diffuse light as they moved. She was pretty sure that, had she been there in person, she would've heard the joyful whoops they'd all made. Just seeing their athletic tumbles and flips was also good, though. The seven of them were just as comfortable and confident in the air as on the ground, and it showed.

" _Naas_ ," Isabet replied mulishly. The short clip of their rescuers being utter _jare'la or'dinii'se_ looped on the screen in front of her and started playing once more.

Rav glanced over from her position across the room. "You watching the Mereels do their aerial tricks again, Reau?"

Vhonte smirked at him. "Of course she is," she teased, a sing-song tone in her voice. "Isabet's got a cru~sh."

Setting the datapad aside on the tiny table next to her, Isabet leaned forward in her seat, planting her elbows on her knees and smiled at Vhonte, showing as many of her teeth as she could. It might have been a trick she'd picked up from those _Kyr'tsad shabuir'e_ but it was still a good one. "So do you, _vod_ ," she pointed out, keeping her tone sweet and innocent. "I've heard you trying to get intel on them out of the cooks. You're lucky Kardasyn likes you."

The oldest of them, Falin, whose broken leg was still healing despite the amount of bacta that had been slathered on it since their rescue, lay sprawled out on his bed in the improvised infirmary in the palace's basement. The healers were fairly sure that he would heal without having to take a dip in a tank, though, thank _Manda_.

Tani and Mij occupied the other two beds in their curtained off section of the room, both also still watched over closely as they recovered. Isabet was just glad that the medics had been smart enough to put them all together rather than separating them. They had to keep their voices low, but that was fine. They were used to that after the months they'd spent in the Death Watch's hands.

They'd only just made planetfall a few hours ago, and it was strange, getting used to the harsher pull of gravity in Sundari. On Concordia, she'd felt like she would fly into the air every time she stood up, at first.

Way harder to cope with was the memory of Tani almost marching far away before they could even get back to the _Mand'alor_ 's cruiser...

Falin yanked her back out of her thoughts and into the present before she could horrify herself all over again, luckily. He flung an arm over his face and groaned dramatically. "Not this again. Just because they pulled us out of that _aru'bral_ doesn't mean they're going to want to be friends. They're constantly training or helping plan the campaign or working with the Clan Armourer."

"How'll we know if we never ask them, though?" Mij asked, shrugging. "You're all making assumptions based on guesses, here. We don't have enough facts."

Isabet made a face at them. They had a point, but karked if she was going to admit it. "Well, get us some facts, then, Mij," she retorted. "No one knows much of anything about the Mereels that they're willing to tell us. Not even the Clan Armourer, and I've heard from Kardasyn who heard from Mira that she apprenticed one of them."

"Wonder why they all show up to her lessons, then," B'arin mused. "That's kind of weird."

"Every _verd_ should know how to care for their armour," Mij pointed out. "That's not so weird."

"Darist says they just do everything together," Falin put in. "If you find one of them, at least one will be lurking nearby."

Tani huffed at him, stretching before crossing the room to tuck herself in close to Mij. "That means nothing. We do the same thing, _vod_."

Isabel raised an eyebrow at her _ori'vod_. If those two didn't exchange armour sometime soon, she would have to smack them both until they saw sense. "We do, but that's because we had to for so long. It's habit. _Vod'e liniba hukaatir kama._ "

"Maybe they had to, themselves," Tani said with a shrug. "Anyway, why do you keep watching that HUD recording over and over?"

Isabet let her head fall back until she was staring at the ceiling and sighed. "It's not that I want to. I was hoping to find something new. The _verd'e be'mand'alor_ are constantly adding more HUD footage of the Mereels to their collection, and it's usually _kandosii'la_. They just... ugh. Their attempt to organise it is just _laandur_."

Cort spoke up, snickering. "Kree said that trying to come up with a coherent tagging system that all three companies could agree on was pretty much impossible."

Vhonte nodded. " _Buir_ is kind of annoyed by that, himself. Sometimes he can't even find his own submitted footage in the chaos."

"Maybe we should give it a try, then, if they can't karking come up with a coherent scheme," Isabet suggested, annoyed enough by the disaster that called itself a database to consider doing something about it.

Rav smirked at her. "You just want an excuse to comb through the whole collection."

"Like you don't," she shot back, knowing she'd score a hit. Rav had become pretty good friends with Crys, during those two weeks that the pair of Mereels had spent in their _room_ \-- the word came out as a sneer, even in her head -- and she avidly kept an ear to the ground in the hopes that she could keep tabs on all of the Mereels. Isabet was convinced that Rav wanted to get to know Crys a lot better, and possibly kriff him, once their _buir'e_ allowed it.

Falin tended to have better luck than Rav, though, since the _ver'alor_ \-- who worked directly with the Mereels, or with Fett and the _Mand'alor_ himself -- had been stopping by to visit him every rotation.

Tani gave them both an exasperated look. "The way you two bicker," she muttered, "it's like you grew up together."

Rav stuck her tongue out at Tani, then said, "Seriously, though, that database really _is_ a disaster."

"So get off your _shebse_ and fix it, then, if it bothers you so much," Mij grumbled. 

Isabet huffed at them. "Maybe I will."

"Well, it would be something to do that isn't sitting around waiting for you three to recover," Vhonte said, the way her eyes sparkled implying that she was laughing at them.

"Why not," Falin agreed. "Almost anything is better than just sitting around staring at the ceiling."

It took them a few hours of discussion to come up with a coherent scheme of their own, that didn't end up so complicated that it would make the chaos worse rather than better. Simple and short was better than detailed and unusable. They decided that all clips would be tagged with the names of whoever was in them, a short description of the contents that was limited to a phrase or two, the date of recording, the name of the _verd_ submitting the footage, and ratings for the quality of the clip.

Making that decision was -- predictably -- the easy part.

The hard part was sorting through the ridiculous number of HUD captures that had already been added to the database. There were often up to a dozen copies of the same event, from different perspectives, submitted by different _verd'e_.

It took them nearly a week and a half of concerted effort to work through just half of the clips, and more were being submitted on a daily basis. After a few rotations, they'd begun to notice that some of the newly added submissions used the new tagging system, which had made Vhonte and Cort grin. Their _buir_ had been one of the first to latch onto the new system and start using it. Isabet couldn't be sure, but she thought he might also have been bragging about their efforts to the other Headhunters, which was flattering.

Then, in a move that felt as surprising as the harsh jerk you felt when you hit the end of a grappling line, the _jetiise_ healers decided that everyone who could benefit from their talents had, and there was nothing more they could do to assist. Everyone who had survived the various skirmishes was stable enough, including the pair of knights that they had come to Sundari to treat.

Falin's leg was declared healed enough that he could put his weight on it again; Mij's bruising and concussion had officially caused no lasting damage; Tani's electrical burns had healed and the shocks that had nearly killed her, hadn't left any lasting damage, thank _Manda_.

Which meant they'd have to make a decision on whether they were willing to let the _verd'e_ who'd offered to do so actually follow through and adopt them.

Suddenly, it looked like they were going to be split up, and Isabet _hated_ the idea.

For so long, all they'd had was each other.

And now...

Isabet had to swallow hard against the way tears rose in her eyes and tried to make her throat close. Now, they'd probably have to find ways to cope with being apart for longer than a sleep cycle.

She and the other four in their group that hadn't been badly injured had already accepted offers of adoption from _verd'e_ who'd been among the _ori'ramikad'e_ taking part in the raid on Concordia that had gotten them out of Death Watch's hands. But Falin, Mij and Tani hadn't yet. None of them would have to accept an offer, either. They were adults in the eyes of the law.

Refusing would mean they would have to leave the palace and their friends to find homes, work, and a way to earn their _beskar'gam_ , which would be a difficult task. _Beskar'gam_ was expensive. With their respective _buir'e_ dead and no way to find out if the armour they'd stood to inherit had been stolen, sold, or melted down, Falin, Tani, and Mij faced a battle that was heavily biased against them.

But they'd had offers.

Whether those _verd'e_ would make the same offers again, now that Mij, Falin, and Tani had recovered enough to be off their medications and able to consent... Well. That was the question.

As if in answer to her thoughts, three armoured _ori'ramikad'e_ stepped into their little curtained alcove. Isabet recognised the _ver'alor_ and the other two were from Vertigo Company. These particular _verd'e_ had been on Concordia for the raid that had resulted in their rescue.

Ther _ver'alor_ took a half step forward, positioning herself slightly in front of their other two visitors and taking off her _buy'ce_ so she could tuck it under her arm comfortably. She caught Falin's eyes and held them for a moment before she spoke, " _Su cuy'gar, Falin. Tion gar ni duumi kir'manir, verd'ika_ ," she asked carefully.

Falin hesitated. He'd obviously not dared to believe that she'd meant it when she'd offered aboard the _Vigilant_ , but here she was again, offering a second time.

Isabet couldn't help the way her jaw dropped and desperate hope burned through her. Her breath caught. Maybe they _wouldn't_ be split up.

It took Falin several seconds that felt like an eternity to make his decision. He looked up, a wavering smile tugging at his lips, and nodded. He had to clear his throat before he could speak. "' _'lek_ ," he managed to say, voice still hoarse under the weight of his relief and disbelief.

Isabet could see the way his hands shook where he'd clenched them around fistfuls of his bedsheets.

" _Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad_ , Falin," Darist responded with a bright smile that made her look years younger, and offered her new _ad_ a hand up off his bed. Falin took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet, and flung his arms around his new _buir_ , armour and all.

The _verd_ in blue standing next to Isabet was the next to take off their _buy'ce_. Konall caught Mij's eyes and repeated Darist's words. " _Su cuy'gar, Mij. Tion gar ni duumi kir'manir, verd'ika_."

Mij grinned, looking like they couldn't believe what was happening, either. " _Elek,_ " they said, taking a shuddering breath.

Konall grinned right back, pleased. " _Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad_ , Mij," he said, then sat beside Mij on the bed and set his _buy'ce_ on the blankets.

Tani stared down the last _ori'ramikad_ , clearly not sure whether to hope the pattern would hold or fear that it wouldn't. Isabet found herself holding her breath, consciously, that time, the anticipation making her tense.

Before anyone else could break the silence that had fallen in the little 'room', Nal'ya pulled off her _buy'ce_ in her turn and shattered it. " _Su cuy'gar, Tani. Tion gar ni duumi kir'manir, verd'ika_ ," the twi'leki asked.

And got an almost pained sounding sob in reply. Cort and Vhonte all but leapt to pull Tani into a hug, murmuring to her and trying to calm her down enough to answer the question.

Nal'ya looked a bit nonplussed. "... Was it something I said?" She grumbled.

Isabet wasn't about to let her make the wrong assumptions. Not now, of all times. " **Nayc** ," she said quickly. " _Pare sol_!"

The _ver'alor_ gave her an almost proud look, then nodded. "Let Tani calm herself down, Nal'ya," she put in, backing Isabet up. "I'm not sure that reaction was what you think."

It took Cort and Vhonte another minute or so to help Tani steady her breathing, and Rav took the opportunity to slip away long enough to find a damp cloth for her.

Everyone politely ignored the lingering sniffles and hiccups that Tani couldn't quite seem to stop, as she carefully got to her feet, and took a few hesitant steps toward Nal'ya. "This feels like a dream," she said quietly, her words hesitant and unsure as she cautiously approached the _verd_ in green-accented white.

"It's not a dream," Nal'ya reassured her, her shoulders squaring and posture firming up as she realised what Tani was feeling. "I promise. Will you let me give you a soul, _verd'ika_?"

Tani's lips trembled, and she flung herself at Nal'ya, doing her best to hug the breath right out of the twi'leki _verd_. "' _lek_ ," she breathed out, so low Isabet almost couldn't make it out.

Nal'ya beamed. Her pink skin flushed a little darker in pleasure and made her slightly stubby lekku seem almost startlingly bright against the backdrop of their 'walls'. " _Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad_ , Tani," she said, formally, wrapping her own arms around Tani in turn, and just held Tani close when she started sobbing again as her relief overwhelmed her a second time.

Rav waited a minute or so, then pressed the towel back into Tani's hand without a word.

It took a few more minutes for the emotions in the room to subside, and Isabet was glad of it when they did. Dealing with that kind of thing was exhausting.

The _jetii_ mind healer, Che, had been working with them just as often as she had been with the Mereels, too. That much Isabet knew for a fact.

Che had been helping the eight of them work through what Death Watch had done to them, and it was obvious that it had been helping. It was just as obvious that they were only better, and not fully recovered from it.

"Luckily for you three," Darist joked, once she was sure everyone was more or less calm again, "none of you has to do the post-adoption physical."

Mij groaned and rolled their eyes. "Just the paperwork."

"That's taken care of, _ad_ ," Konall said, shaking his head. "All it needs is a signature and a witness, and everything's legal."

"Which means," Nal'ya picked up the thread, "all we really need to do is get you your new identification papers and some _beskar'gam_ , so that we can move you into your new quarters. You already know that all of the _verd'e be'Mand'alor_ that have a _riduur_ or _ad'e_ keep apartments in the city."

Falin nodded. "All of them are in the same few buildings, near the palace."

"We'll be living there? All of us?" Tani asked, her voice still a little shaky.

"All of you," Nal'ya replied firmly. "Your other five _vod'e_ are already technically living there, though they've spent far more time here with you than there with their _buir'e_."

"And don't think we haven't noticed what you've been doing to our database," Konall added.

Isabet glared at him. "It was a _mess_. We fixed it."

Darist snickered. "Half of it, you mean," she corrected gently. "It was a good idea, and you came up with a very efficient system, _verd'ika_. Even better, you eight represent all three companies, so all of the others are willing to go along with it."

B'arin rolled his eyes. "We'd have finished what we started regardless," he stated firmly. "There's really no excuse for karking something that simple up so badly."

Konall sputtered for a moment, then laughed outright.

Nal'ya gave him a rueful look. "It was never really supposed to turn into anything this big," she told them, as though that hadn't been obvious from the outset, "so we didn't bother with a neat organised system at the beginning. That was our big mistake."

"We figured as much," Tani said, her voice slightly muffled because she hadn't bothered to raise her head from where she'd tucked it into the curve of her new _buir_ 's neck. Isabet noticed with a jolt that Tani was taller than her new _buir_ \-- who'd seemed six spans tall when she'd last come to visit them -- and had to hide her amusement. 

"Let's go find something good to eat for midmeal," Darist suggested, changing the subject completely. "We should celebrate, and the eight of you can tell us all about your plans for how we can expand the database to include some of our own fun clips, rather than just footage of those ridiculous Mereels."

Konall nodded. "I can get behind that plan, _ver'alor_."

Cort and Vhonte nodded as Isabet put her connections to good use and informed them all, "I think the kitchen staff said there would be _tiingilar_ , today."

" _Tiingilar_ and a side of tech talk? I'm in," Nal'ya answered, running a soothing hand down the length of Tani's spine. "Come on, _ad'ika_ , and tell me all about what you've been working on. My _riduur_ is a slicer, so I know most of the basics. Maybe you can show me a few clever new tricks so I can impress him."

Isabet saw the way that straightened Tani's posture and more of her relief faded away into eagerness and enthusiasm as she started explaining in more detail what they'd done, and she saw the way Nal'ya smiled at her, a mix of pride and interest in her eyes. She saw the way Konall grinned at Mij, and the way Darist gently teased Falin.

She saw a new _aliit_ coming together, and knew that their lives would never be the same after this.

_Kyr'tsad had better watch out, if they ever dare show their faces here again. Those hut'uun'e won't have time to aim before they're dead. Munit tome'tayl, skotah iisa._

**Author's Note:**

> Mando'a glossary:
> 
> **Ad** \- n. gender neutral word for son/daughter; plural: ad'e  
>  **Ad'ika** \- n. diminutive form of **ad** ; roughly translates as 'kiddo' or 'little one'  
>  **Aru'bral** \- n. enemy base (I made this one up; it's based on **aru'ela** for 'hostile' and **bral** for 'fortified location'.)  
>  **Aruetii** \- n. traitor/foreigner/outsider; plural: aruetiise
> 
> **B', Be'** \- prepositional prefix denoting relationship: 'of'; eg: **ad be'Mand'alor** = "child of the Mand'alor" or "the Mand'alor's child"  
>  **Beskar** \- n. Mandalorian iron  
>  **Beskar'gam** \- n. armour (literally: iron skin)  
>  **Bral** \- n. hill fort; high ground; defended position  
>  **Buir** \- n. gender neutral word for mother/father; plural: buir'e  
>  **Buy'ce** \- n. helmet plural: buy'cese
> 
> **Duumir** \- v. To allow; present tense: duumi
> 
> **Elek** \- yes; can be shortened to **'lek** , which equates to an informal 'yeah'
> 
> **Gar** \- personal pronoun; you  
>  **Gedet'ye** \- please
> 
> **Haat, ijaa, haa'it** \- Truth, honor, vision - words used to seal a pact.  
>  **Haat Mando'ad'e** \- n. True Mandalorians (plural)  
>  **Hukaatir** \- v. to cover  
>  **Hukaat'kama** \- "Watch my six"  
>  **Hut'uun** \- n. coward; very strong insult; plural: hut'uun'e
> 
> **Jare'la** \- adj. stupidly oblivious of danger, asking for it  
>  **Jetii** \- n. Jedi; plural: jetiise  
>  **Jetii'kad** \- n. Lightsabre (literally: Jedi sword); plural: jetii'kad'e
> 
> **K', Ke'** \- prepositional prefix denoting an imperative; eg: **Olaror** = to arrive; **K'olar** = "come here"  
>  **Kandosii'la** adj. awesome; wicked; splendid  
>  **Kama** \- n. Belt-spat (That thing the clone troopers wear that kind of resembles a kilt);  
>  **Ka'ra** \- n. Stars; also refers to an ancient Mandalorian myth: the ruling council of fallen kings  
>  **Kir'manir** \- v. to adopt; to give a soul to someone  
>  **Kyr'tsad** \- n. Death Watch
> 
> **laandur** \- adj. delicate, fragile (sometimes an insult - weak, pathetic)  
>  **linibar** \- v. to need [something]; present tense: liniba
> 
> **Munit tome'tayl, skotah iisa.** \- "Long memory, short fuse"; phrase said to describe the typical Mando mindset
> 
> **Naas** \- n. Nothing  
>  **Nayc** \- No  
>  **Ni** \- personal pronoun; I/me  
>  **Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad** \- the (very simple) Mandalorian adoption ritual, the gai bal manda, meaning "I know your name as my child"
> 
> **Or'dinii** \- n. moron; fool  
>  **Ori'ramikad** \- n. supercommando (Mandalorian designation of elite special forces); plural: ori'ramikad'e  
>  **Ori'vod** \- n. older sibling
> 
> **Pare sol** \- "Hang on!" (literally: Wait one.); **Ke'pare** is much more emphatic - *Wait!*
> 
> **Riduur** \- n. spouse/lover; plural: riduur'e
> 
> **Shabuir** \- n. jerk, but much stronger; extreme insult; plural: shabuir'e  
>  **Su cuy'gar** \- Hello (literally: You're still alive.)  
>  **Su cuy'gar, [name]. Tion gar ni duumi kir'manir, verd'ika** \- "Hello, [name]. Will you allow me to adopt you, little warrior?"
> 
> **Tiingilar** \- n. blisteringly spicy Mandalorian casserole  
>  **Tion** \- preposition that marks a question  
> 
> 
> **Ver'alor** \- n. lieutenant  
>  **Verd** \- n. soldier/warrior; plural: verd'e  
>  **Verd'e be'Mand'alor** \- n. the Mand'alor's warriors  
>  **Vod** \- n. gender neutral word for brother/sister; plural: Vod'e  
>  **Vod'e liniba hukaatir kama.** \- "Siblings need to [implies: should] cover each others' backs."  
>  **Vod'ika** \- n. little brother/sister; plural: vod'ike  
>  **Vor entye** \- thank you (literally: I accept the debt)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] The Verd's Guide to Curating Holofootage](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29165733) by [Yuurei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuurei/pseuds/Yuurei)




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